Page 27 of Collateral Claim
Endo’s eyebrow shoots up. “Come again?”
“Connor’s coming.” The man opens the door, and his twin pushes in a trolley full of covered plates. Even the smell of bacon I very much crave this morning doesn’t distract from the bruising on the man’s face. His left eye’s swollen shut, his lip’s bleeding, and he walks with a limp.
“Mornin’,” he says, sounding chipper despite his terrible condition.
“What happened to your face?” Endo asks.
The man jerks his head at his twin with the swollen knuckles, who’s standing by the entrance.
“Dec beat some sense into me.”
“What for?” Endo asks Declan.
Declan scrunches up his nose. “No worries. All taken care of.”
Endo leans back as the man with a swollen eye puts a plate in front of him.
“Don’t make me ask again,” Endo says and grasps the man’s jaw. He turns his face and examines it, then tsks in what I hope is disapproval of the beating.
“Con threatened Ms. Pembroke. But he understands he can’t do that now.”
Endo releases the man, who swallows visibly. “I’m sorry, Uncle. I’m upset about Uncle Cass.”
That’s Endo’s nephew. Damn.
“We’re all upset about Cass. This is why I brought Scarlett to the Keep. What did you say to her?”
“I said I’d cut her up.”
Endo’s gaze changes. His entire demeanor becomes something else, something much colder. It’s almost as if he withdraws his personality, vacates it. His gaze is icy. His words are steady, almost matter-of-fact. “Did you miss the ring I put on her finger?”
His nephew shakes his head. “The engagement isn’t real, so I didn’t think it mattered. I’m sorry, Ms. Pembroke.”
“I’m okay. I am, really. Don’t mention it. Just as long as you didn’t mean it and won’t do it.”
Endo levels me with a stare. “He means it, or he wouldn’t say it. It’s the dungeon for you, Connor.”
“No, please,” the man begs. “Kitchen duty. A year. I won’t talk to her. Won’t even look at her. I’ll wear a blindfold and a muzzle.”
“I can’t trust you. I need her, and you threatened her.”
“It’s just something that came out of my mouth. I wouldn’t…” He scratches his head. “I mean, I would, but not if you didn’t order me. I’ll respect her fake ring. I’m pissed she’s being treated like a princess while Uncle Cass might be at the bottom of the ocean getting picked over by the fish.”
“The dungeon,” Endo says, some of his personality returning with a heavy sigh. “Give Scarlett the key. The good doctor will release you whenever she wants.”
“Will do,” Declan says. “Come on, brother.”
Connor gives me a mean look as he departs for the dungeon.
“If he didn’t hate me before, he definitely hates me now,” I say.
“He hated you before, so don’t worry about it. Besides, he’s more loyal to Cass than to me.”
“And Dec is more loyal to you?”
Endo nods and gets up to pour a glass of pineapple juice.
Endo serves me the juice and a croissant. “My morning chef, Mary, is a pastry chef. Been sick lately. Perhaps later today you could get her to tell you what’s the matter with her. I could consider it a favor.”
